Korean punk rockers No Brain released their 6th studio album titled 그것이 � �음 (Geugeosi Jeolum, It is Youth) Vol. 5 in September. Their lead single off of the LP goes by the same title and its music video are especially awesome.

The MV for “그것이 � �음” is hilirious. While the track plays, the video features kids, businessmen, and No Brain themselves playing the song. It’s a loud, anthemic song and it’s great to see kids and businessmen alike rock out while they perform. I couldn’t help but laugh while jumpin’ around the room. The MV concludes with all 3 “bands” jamming together.

No Brain formed in 1996 and began playing in the Hongdae area of Seoul. The band consists of Bulldaegal (vocals), VOVO (guitar), Jany (bass), and HyoongGa (drums). Around 2000-2001, No Brain really began finding popular success.

The band’s angsty and provocative anthems have been enjoyed by many fans across Korea and in Japan. Like other good punk rock bands though, No Brain have sparked their fair share of controversy.

Concerning the band’s name, “the band claimed in an interview that the ‘No’ in their name is not the English word, but rather the Romanization of the Chinese character 怒, which means anger,” According to wiki.theppn.org

I love No Brain!! The music video for “??? ??”:

Outsider (아웃사이) may be Korea’s fastest rapper and he may very well be capable of taking the world title one day. Signed with MC Sniper’s Sniper Sound label, he is currently working on new material.

The current Guinness record holder for Fastest Rap MC is Seattle-based rapper Ricky Brown and past title holders including Rebel XD and Twista. Brown’s record was set in 2005 with 723 syllables in 51.27 seconds. Now, I can’t count near that fast but Outsider’s skills may be comparable.

Outsider doesn’t rap in English but seeing how the Fast Rapper title is determined by syllables, he should be able to give it a go.

This clip is from a show where guests must guess if the person is telling the truth of who they are, I believe. It’s a brief showcase and preview of Outsider’s skill.

Outsider is featured in “Better than Yesterday” by MC Sniper.

“I Love You” (사랑해요, Saranghaeyo) by Namolla Family (나몰라 패밀리, I Don’t Know Family) featuring Kim Kyung Rok (김경록) of V.O.S and Tae In is pretty hot. The single, off of Namolla Family’s debut album is sweet and cool and the music video does that even more so.

Namolla Family is actually a trio of comedians (Kim Jae-woo, Kim Kyung-wook, & Kim Tae-hwan) and their first “real” music release emphasizes their musical and artistic abilities.

The song features beautiful layering of male and female vocals with soft rap.

The MV makes school look cool again. It’s a fun, lighthearted look at romance that ends up being pretty cute. It’s pretty much about a guy and a girl and the shy attraction between them. Things lead to the guy’s confessing his love over the school’s PA system. It’s a bit cheesy but done very well.

I love you “I Love You”:

The AP photo caption says:

South Korean students wearing masks of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il perform during a rally demanding to put on the agenda for human right in North Korea in the planned two Koreas summit in front of the government complex in Seoul, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007. 2007. A team of South Korean officials crossed into North Korea Tuesday for talks with North Korean officials to work out details of the next month’s summit of their leaders.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Seriously though, great job with the Roh Moo-hyun mask. Looks just like him.

on Pictopia

Korean reggae artist Skull’s US debut single “Boom Di Boom Di” is still on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales — after 9 weeks. Remember the SparkPlugged article about his first week on the chart, when his song debuted at #10? Well, now “Boom Di Boom Di” sits comfortably at #5 and peaked at #4 in the past weeks.

Skull’s new single is “Here to Stay”.

I really like “Boom Di Boom Di” (obviously) but I actually enjoy “Here to Stay” more. The song, which features Mighty Mystic is really laid back. The skanking guitar riff accompanies raps and vocals as well as a catchy chorus. The song is relevant to his situation.

Skull has really got it going on…but there’s a twist.

According to a Sept. 16 article from the Music Industry News Network (Mi2N) and Skull’s official MySpace blog:

The Korean Military is requiring that Skull serve his obligatory two and 1/2 year term of service, prior to the completion of his US Debut album. Skull who is the first Korean artist to be embraced by Urban audiences and gain a foothold in American Pop Culture may soon disappear off the scene, and with him, the singular opportunity for Korean American youth to look proudly to a prominent star who resembles them, and feel less alienated by an American pop culture machine which has thus far managed to entirely exclude them.

The article titled “SKULL A Powerful Voice For Korea May Soon Be Silenced By Mandatory Military Service” is the reality. Mandatory military service in Korea is a fact of life but it’s a big damper on Skull’s promising US career. It’s surely expected though.

We’re already used to our favorite male Korean stars going off on a 2-year hiatus but it feels different when the star is active in the US. We’ll have to just wait while he proudly serves his country.

I support Skull and his responsibilities and many of us will stick tight if he has to do his thing. Bless!

(Listening to “Here to Stay” on Skull’s MySpace will cheer you up)

After 2 years, Korean R&B star Wheesung (휘성) is back with his highly-anticipated 5th album, Eternal Essence of Music, which is his first release since signing with a new record label (Orange Shock).

To no suprise, it has immediately shot to the top of the charts.

Eternal Essence of Music obviously has already had and is destined for more commercial success, but how does it deliver musically? Based on my past experience listening to Wheesung (I have all of his albums), I can only expect that it’s amazing.

To start things off, the first track hit me like a ton of bricks. “Love Hero” begins with a woman speaking in English over the music. It’s beautifully romantic and sets a perfect tone for the rest of the album. This first song throws the listener head first into a world of emotional and smooth slow jam love.

Once things get going, Eternal Essence of Music really distinguishes itself. The expected heartfelt soul ballads are very well placed between upbeat love songs and party tracks.

Wheesung is one of the best male vocalists out there. This 5th release does a wonderous job of showcasing his vocal ability and talent. His wide vocal range, flowing crescendos, and ability to change pitch are most notable. Wheesung is an amazing singer and it can’t get much better than this.

I have only had a chance to give Eternal Essence of Music a few listen throughs and some tracks already stand out. “Love Hero”, “사랑은 맛있다♡” (Love is delicious♡), “어쩌다 보니 비밀” (A Sudden Secret), “Savannah Woman”, “벌” (Punishment), and “이별 앞에 서서” (Stand In Front Of Separation) are all pretty different but equally enjoyable.

This is an immediate candidate for my favorite album of the year and it will be spinning on my playlist for a while for sure.

The lead-off single for Eternal Essence of Music is “사랑은 맛있다♡” (Love is delicious♡). It’s definetly got a pop vibe going on and while it’s good, don’t be fooled, the rest of the album is actually pretty different. The song is extremely upbeat and can’t help but leave smiles behind. On top of that, the music video for “사랑은 맛있다♡” is really cute and pretty much eclipses the actual song. It’s a good time.

It’s one thing to write Korean but if you’re like me, you want to be able to type it.

The problem: The placement of Korean letters on keyboards is not the same as QWERTY keyboards. The order of the letters is different and not equivilent to the Latin alphabet. The ‘A’ equivilent in Korean (ㅏ) ≠ the ‘A’ in Latin’s placement on the keyboard.

My solution: Use a keyboard diagram or buy Korean keyboard stickers. While stickers aren’t too expensive, I’ll go with the free option: a diagram. Each key types a Korean letter (jamo) and hitting the space bar confirms the hangul character.

For example, you want to type a basic informal greeting, “안녕” (annyong, hello). If you type this on a QWERTY keyboard you would type these letters: D, K, S, (space bar), S, U, D, (space bar). [ã…‡,ㅏ,ã„´,(space),ã„´,ã…•,ã…‡,(space)]

This is a great help if you already understand how to read/write Korean but just can’t type it.

Below is a diagram I made. It’s a photo of my keyboard with the Korean letters added in white.

I was recently amazed by Micro SD chips but this takes it to a new level. Samsung Electronics will begin shipping 64GB SSD (solid state drive) hard drives.

There’s no motor, no head and actuator, no disc. It’s 64GB of solid state memory.

The 2.5-inch SSD chips will be first sold in Dell premium notebooks later this year.

In the Korean online paper Digital Chosunilbo, the article said:

Samsung said the new drives will be supplied to other major PC makers as well. Demand for Flash chips is expected to surge once Dell starts mass-producing notebooks with Samsung’s SSDs. Market researcher iSuppli predicts that with a rapid growth of the SSD market, PCs will account for 20 percent of applications of flash chips by 2011.

Having a distribution deal with major PC manufacturers and not just being an aftermarket part could really mean the proliferation of SSD hard drives. This is some pretty cool, revolutionary stuff.

Samsung Starts Shipping Flash Hard Drives for PCs

Viva Soul is a Korean hybrid hip-hop trio that offers a unique brand of music which takes inspiration from those aformentioned genres. It’s something really fresh and exciting.

Viva Soul (L to R) D’Low, Jood, Samuel

 
Viva Soul consists of the multi-talented Jood (producer, MC, vocals, guitar, electric piano, MPC3000), MC and vocalist D’Low, and DJ/percussionist Samuel. The group is signed to M-Boat Entertainment (a sister company of YG).

Their music is as unique and inspiring as the three of them are. Each member brings something unique to the musical table. When combined, that table collapses under the weight of Viva Soul’s musical coolness.

Their second album which hit store selves in 2007, Refresh is 15 tracks of diverse, flavorful music. Most tracks offer collaborations with vocalists but those featured surely don’t outshine the trio itself. They act as a welcomed addition to already good music.

CD track highlights include “Cry” feat. Ha Dong Kyun (하동균), “High Up” feat. Maboos, “Illusion”, “Goodbye 20′s”, “Freedom” feat. Shina-E, “Keep On”, and “Fallin’ Down” feat. Wheesung (휘성).

It’s safe to say that every song on Refresh is good — with some tracks bordering on amazing. Actually, this album is easily one of the best of the year and one of my recent favorites. I love it!

Here is the music video for Viva Soul’s break-out single, “Cry” feat. Ha Dong Kyun:

Some CD booklet pics:

Huge stars and ballad trio SG Wannabe’s (SG워너비) hit 2005 single and similarly-titled album Saldaga (살다가) reigned atop the charts for quite sometime. It has been one of many successes since their debut in 2004.

Now, here comes Super Kidd (슈퍼키드, I’ve talked about them before). Producing their own brand of party-inspired indie rock, they’ve gained momentum recently. This is in thanks part to their appearances on popular TV shows. Like a show where musicians perform with renditions of others’ hits.

Super Kidd’s version of SG Wannabe’s “Saldaga” is pretty good.

I like ballads and SG Wannabe’s work but I can’t help but sucker for the Super Kidd version. It’s pretty cool to hear the two renditions of the song. One is a beautiful, tear-inducing ballad while the other is an uppity, dancing good time. They’re both great songs — in two very different ways.

Two videos: The original live performance of “Saldaga” and the party rock version.

“Saldaga” – SG Wannabe

“Saldaga” – Super Kidd